Pneumatic sweeper and renovator.



A. E. CHAPMAN. PNEUMATIC SWEEPER AND RENOVATOR.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 31, 1905- 1 ,1 83,952. Patented May 23, 1916.

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PNEUMATIC SWEEPER AND RENOVATOR.

APPLICATION FILED 0 CT.3l 1905- 1,183,952. Patented May 23,1916.

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PNEUMATIC SWEEPER AND RENOVATORP APPLICATION FILED OCT. 31. 1905.

1,183,952 Patented May 23,1916.

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ALONZO E. CHAPMAN, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, ASSIG-NOR, BY MESNEASSIGN- MENTS, TO ELECTRIC RENOVA'IOR MANUFACTURING COMPANY, ACORPORATION OF PENNSYLVANIA.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 23, 1916.

Application filed October 31, 1905. Serial No. 285,239.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALoNzo E. CHAPMAN, a citizen of the United States,residing at San Francisco, in the county of San Francisco and State-ofCalifornia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inPenumatic Sweepers and Renovators, of which the following is aspecification.

This invention relates to improvements in pneumatic renovators, and moreparticularly to manually propelled devices of this character.

The primary object of the invention is to provide a self-containedmachine of novel construction which will effectively remove dust fromcarpets, walls, and other surfaces by suction.

Further objects of the invention are to provide a device of thischaracter which shall be compact and powerful in operation, and at thesame time light in weight and easily movable from place to place andover the surface to be cleaned, thus rendering the machine readilyadapted to domestic use.

With the above and other objects in view, the invention consists in thearrangement and construction of parts hereinafter described, andillustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a brokenside elevation of the apparatus. Fig. 2 is a broken plan View of thesame. Fig. 3 is an enlarged cross section of the fans and the casingstherefor. Fig. 4

is an elevation, of one of said fans, on a smaller scale than that ofFig. 3, parts being broken away. Fig. 5 is a sectional view of the brushand casing. Fig. 6 is a broken detail plan view showing the means ofattachment of a shoe to the frame. Fig. 7 is a View similar to Fig. 1illustrating the connection of attachment to facilitateremoving dustfrom walls of a room, shelves of a closet, or the like. Fig. 8 is adetail view showing the connection between the shoe 21 and the endplates 22. p

Referring to the drawings in detail, 1 represents the handle by whichthe carpet sweeper is moved about over the floor. It is attached at itslower end in a socket, 1', secured to one end of a platform, 2, whichhas standards 3130 support the shaft 4 of the electro-motor 5 suppliedwith electricity from the binding posts 6, from which lead wires 7 tothe brushes 8 of the motor. -A

It will be noted that the platform 2, is

supported near the rear or handle 'end by means of casters or rollers 2,while at its other or front end said platform carries a casing providedwith a suction mouth designed to be moved over the surface to becleaned, as the machine istrundled, there-v over, the dust and dirtbeing drawn up through the suction mouth as will presently appear.

Upon the extended end of the motor shaft 4, are mounted a pair of fans9, 10, which rotate in separate casings 11, 12, separated by a partition13. On the extreme end of the shaft 4 is a pulley 14: around whichtravels a belt 15 passing also around a pulley 16 upon the shaft ofa-rotary brush 17, said brush revolving in a casing 19 secured to theplatform 2 of the apparatus, at the front end thereof. This brush is notessential to the operation of the machine, and may be dispensed with ifdesired. The cleaning action of the apparatus is due, primarily tosuction, and the brush, when employed, serves merely as a stirrer, toloosen up the nap of the carpet so the current of air may more readilyremove the dust therefrom.

The casing 19 comprises a cylindrical body, and end plates 22. Asclearly shown in Fig. 5, adjustable shoes, 21, extend between the endplates 22, on each side of the casing, and are secured to said plates bymeans of screws 23, passinc through slots 24. The inner edges of theseshoes are curved to conform to the curvature of the body of the casing,and it is obvious that by adjusting said shoes to or away from saidcasing, a crevice of greater or less width is formed between the shoesand body of the casing.

It will be noted, by reference to Fig. 1 I

with the surface to be cleaned. This direct I contact is a very vitalfactor in the efiiciency of the apparatus, and is made possible by thefeatures of construction above described, namely, the suction mouthlying in a plane below the platform, and constituting the means forsupporting the front end of the platform, while said platform issupported at its rear end solely by the rollers or casters. To a nipple19, formed on the easing 19, one end of a piece of tubing 20 isattached, and the other end is detachably secured to a nipple 11',formed on the fan casing 11.

The air is drawn into the brush casing through the suction mouth, partbeing drawn through the carpet itself, and part through the crevicesbetween the shoes 21 and the casing. This last portion enters thecasing, and produces a sweeping action on that portion of the surfacebeing cleaned that lies within the edges of the suction mouth. The dustladen air then passes from the casing 19, through the tube 20, to thefans, and is driven by centrifugal force to the periphery of the firstcasing 11, whence it passes by a conduit 25 to a pipe 26 on the outsideof the casing for the fans and leading to the center of the casing 12 ofthe second fan 10. By means of this second fan it is dischargedtangentially into a conduit 28 leading to a dust collector 29. Thesefans are of novel construction being formed of side plates 30 connectedby curved vanes 31. In order to prevent air escaping along thesides ofthe fans between said side plates 30 and the sides of the casingtherefor, there are providedcupshaped annular washers 32 secured inrecesses 33 in the sides of the casings.

The employment of a fan of the tandem, or multiple stage type I regardas an important feature of the present invention. Heretofore, so far asI am aware, no attempt has been made to combine a tandem fan withapparatus of this character. Prior cleaning devices of the portabletype, have, without exception, employed single fans only, and thesedevices have, forthe most part, been unsuccessful, for the reason thatit is practically impossible to construct a single fan which shall besufficiently powerful. and at the same time, compact enough for use in amanually propelled machine. By employing the tandem principle I amenabled to produce an exceedingly powerful fan within a comparativelysmall compass.

In order to enable the carpet sweeper, to be used to the greatestadvantage with carpets of various thickness and lengths of a renovatorfor removing dust from any desired surfaces, such as the walls of aroom, shelves of a closet, or the like. To do this the tube 20 isremoved from its connection with the brush casing and is attached to ahose 20 provided at the free end with a suitable nozzle 20". The nozzleis then applied to the surface to be cleaned, and the motor started anddust will be drawn from said surface in the same manner as from thebrush casing.

In the drawing and the foregoing description my invention has beenillustrated in what I consider its best form of embodiment. Theinvention, however, is not limited to this particular form ofembodiment.

What I claim is 5 a 1. In a sweeper, the combination with a movableplatform, of a motor mounted on said platform and having a shaft, a fansecured on said shaft, a fan casing around said shaft. a brush, anoperative connection between said brush and motor, and a casing for saidbrush, a dust collector also carried by said platform, a conduit betweensaid brush casing and fan, a conduit leading from said fan to said dustcollector, and adjustable means for directing air to the working pointof said brush, substantially as specified.

2. In a carpet sweeper, the combination with a platform mounted onrollers, a motor supported at one side of the platform, the shaft of themotor extending across the same, a fan secured upon the shaft at theother side of the platform, a casing therefor, a brush. an operativeconnection between said brush and motor, a casing for the brush, meansfor varying the amount of air admitted to the brush casing, a conduitleading from said brush casing to said fan casing, a dust collector alsocarried by the platform, and a conduit leading from said' fan casing tosaid collector, substantially as described.

3. In a carpet sweeper, the combination of a platform, a handle securedto said platform for propelling the same, a motor supported on saidplatform, a fan secured upon the shaft of the motor, a casing mounted onsaid platform. an adjustable shoe for varying the amount of air admittedto said casing, a conduit leading from said casing to said fan, a dustcollector carried upon the platform, and a conduit leading from said fanto said collector, substantially as described.

4. In combination with a movable platform, a fan and motor mountedthereon, a casin g carried by said platform and provided at its bottomwith a suction-mouth adapted to make direct contact with the surface onwhich the platform is supported, a conduit leading from said casing tosaid fan, and means for directing air downwardly along the edges of saidsuction-mouth and thence upwardly into the same, whereby said air iscaused to impinge against the surface being cleaned with a sweepingaction.

5. In a sweeper, a movable platform, a motor mounted thereon, a brushand'fan also on said platform operatively connected to said motor,separate casings containing said brush and fan and connected together bya conduit which forms the outlet from said brush casing and the inlet tosaid fan casing, and adjustable means for admitting the air to the brushcasing adjacent the bottom thereof, substantially as and for the purposeset forth.

6. In a pneumatic sweeper, a casing provided with a suction mouth havingfixed edges adapted to make contact with the surface being cleaned,means for creating an air-suction through said mouth, and a shoeadjustable toward and away from one of said fixed edges whereby acurrent of .air is directed downwardly through the space between saidedge and shoe and then upwardly into said suction mouth.

7. In a pneumatic sweeper, a supporting platform, a casing carriedthereby and provided with a suction mouth, having fixed edges, means forcreating an air-suction therethrough, the ends of said casing beingextended so as to rest on the surface being cleaned, and a pair of shoessupported between said extended ends and adjustable toward and from saidfixed edges, one of said shoes being arranged along each edge of saidsuction mouth.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

ALONZO E. CHAPMAN. Witnesses:

E. WOODWARD, BESSIE GORFINKEL.

